1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to golf stroke practice guide arms that guide a golf club in a desired putting stroke.
2. Description of Prior Art
A patent search by the Applicant's agent returned 12 relevant patents. At first glance some of these look highly similar to Applicant's guide. However, none of them can provide the restricted guidance that is the purpose of Applicant's device. The Applicant's device only allows one degree of freedom. All prior devices have additional degrees of freedom via ball joints, additional pivots, slides, or the like.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,319,963 (Cockburn 1967) shows a golf swing guide that looks similar to Applicant's guide. However, Cockburn (FIG. 2) has a wrist turning pivot and a wrist cocking pivot. In contrast, Applicant's guide does not allow the club to twist, cock, or slide, and it prevents the club head from lifting out of a perfect circular arc.
Other relevant prior patents found include U.S. Pat. No. 2,472,065 (Cottingham 1949), U.S. Des. 387,835 (Abram et al. 1997), U.S. Pat. No. 5,139,264 (Wooten 1992), U.S. Pat. No. 2,737,432 (Jenks 1956), U.S. Pat. No. 6,595,865 (Stitz 2003), and U.S. Pat. No. 5,188,367 (Gipe et al 1993).
None of these can provide the guidance of Applicant's device. For examples, see the ball and socket joints in Stitz FIG. 5. See the ball and socket joint in Abram FIG. 1. These devices cannot firmly restrict the club motion to a single axis of rotation. The present invention provides a novel type of golf stroke guidance that is neither duplicated by the prior art nor suggested by it.